United Church of Christ

Pastor's Column

"Not
only is Lent the perfect time to slow down
and be penitential, it is also a wonderful
time for us to deepen in our faith."

~ Pastor Cydney

Pastor’s Column . . .

Dearest Church,

I don’t know if you’ve noticed or feel the same, but as a church, we at New
Goshenhoppen seldom seem to rest. It can be a very good thing to be busy,
especially when the busyness is trying to help others and do God’s work, but it
is important to remember that even God rested. This Lent, we are going to take
an intentional look at one of the best spiritual practices we have at our
disposal as people of faith, in order to slow ourselves down and recenter
ourselves in our connection with God: prayer.

In the words of one of my mentors, Rev. Kent French:

"What does it mean to pray? Why do it? Does it do any good? How often do you
do it? Would you like to deepen your practice of prayer? Make it more regular,
more meaningful, more integrated in your overall life?

In the busyness of many of our lives, prayer often becomes one more thing to
do. Or one more thing not to do. What would it mean to give prayer — steady,
centering, grounding prayer — a more central place in our lives?"

That’s exactly what we are going to do for the season of Lent (February
14-March 31). Together we will dig into the practice of prayer, with a sense of
exploration and fun. We’ll be using The Lord’s Prayer as our guidepost- breaking
it down week by week and exploring the different types of prayer it contains.
We’ll look at facets of prayer such as Praise, Confession, Intercession,
Thanksgiving, and more.

Not only is Lent the perfect time to slow down and be penitential, it is also
a wonderful time for us to deepen in our faith. Some people choose to get closer
to God during this time through the exercise of giving something up. In the
absence of that thing, they rely on God to help them get through without it.
Instead of fasting from something, others choose to add a spiritual practice
during Lent. One year my Lenten practice was to sing a prayer to God, out loud,
every day. While lying in bed, getting ready for my day, or simply driving to
where I needed to go, I would pick a familiar song and offer it up to God. Not
only did I feel more connected to God, but I felt more grounded and balanced. I
would notice when I hadn’t done my Lenten practice yet in the day, and as soon
as I would, I was instantly more in tune and prepared for the rest of my day.

I believe that prayer, sung or spoken of any kind, is a spiritual lifeline.
Just as movement is important regular physical exercise for the body, prayer is
the regular spiritual exercise for the soul. The more we do it, the more it
sustains us and helps us in the world around us. I encourage all of us to find
some time to join in this church wide exploration of prayer.

In Faith,

Pastor Cydney

Pastors
New Gosh has a long history of leadership, including
father & son pastorates.
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